paper-tiger
Member
@Otis: Yes, it does have a very steep curve right there. I ran out of WS incline starters and ambition at about 10:30 last night, so it's just held up with a block of foam at the moment. It does end up being a pretty steep grade, going up about 2 inches in essentially 4 sectional track pieces. I was testing all my grades as I built them, because of all the problems the internet warned me about with HO scale and grades greater than 3%. Most of the grades there are 4% or a little more, but my loco (DC, yes I know DCC is better) is well able to handle it and pull as many cars as my son is likely to connect.
@Lynn, I would much rather do an around-the-wall layout as well, but we live in a rental, so the table needs to be at least theoretically portable. As it is, it's pulled away from the wall a bit but will be flush against it once I'm done with the underlayment and plaster cloth parts. I'm actually extremely happy with this type of track, as it requires no soldering or feeder wires, the automatic reverser is only a little more expensive than some soldering-required options, and not needing a DPDT switch will allow my 6-year-old (the real train buff) to use all the different spurs and balloons without worrying about throwing switches. The part I really enjoy is the sculpting and modeling - he's the train guy! Maybe by the time we have our own house and I can make the space more "permanent, we'll be ready for some flex track and 'serious' benchwork. If/when that happens. I am SO going to N scale! Holy buckets does HO take up a lot of space.
@Lynn, I would much rather do an around-the-wall layout as well, but we live in a rental, so the table needs to be at least theoretically portable. As it is, it's pulled away from the wall a bit but will be flush against it once I'm done with the underlayment and plaster cloth parts. I'm actually extremely happy with this type of track, as it requires no soldering or feeder wires, the automatic reverser is only a little more expensive than some soldering-required options, and not needing a DPDT switch will allow my 6-year-old (the real train buff) to use all the different spurs and balloons without worrying about throwing switches. The part I really enjoy is the sculpting and modeling - he's the train guy! Maybe by the time we have our own house and I can make the space more "permanent, we'll be ready for some flex track and 'serious' benchwork. If/when that happens. I am SO going to N scale! Holy buckets does HO take up a lot of space.
